


Lydia Deetz, Interplanetary Explorer

by LadyDanger420



Category: Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Adventure, Beej gets a good mother figure in this one :), Body Dysphoria, Family Bonding, Gen, Mother-Son Relationship, Only mild tho, Sibling Bonding, and that's cool!, sometimes sibling bonding includes rescuing your ghost parents from another planet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24210970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyDanger420/pseuds/LadyDanger420
Summary: When an unknown demon kidnaps the Maitlands right in front of them, it's up to Lydia and Beetlejuice to get them back home.
Relationships: Adam Maitland/Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice & Lydia Deetz
Comments: 27
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> my piece for the Beetlejuice Big Bang! It will be posted in multiple chapters, so you'll want to subscribe to get all of the story :)

Friday night was Family Game Night in the Maitland-Deetz household. It might entail a game of Monopoly (they usually paired up for it—Lydia and Beetlejuice, Adam and Barbara, and Charles and Delia. It had been revealed that Delia had a surprisingly ruthless streak when it came to the game. Beetlejuice mostly wanted to build the biggest tower he could with the hotel pieces while Lydia managed the finances) or some other board game, but it could also mean a savage few rounds of Smash Bros instead.

Tonight was a dangerously competitive game of Uno. Some might think that playing with an emotionally unstable demon would be dangerous, but those people were cowards who didn't realize that Lydia Deetz was absolutely ruthless once the cards were out.

Beetlejuice grinned widely over his hand, staring at the girl sitting to his left with an ominous gleam in his bright yellow eyes. He held a single card up, waving it in the air dramatically. "Oh Lydia, my darling, my perfect wife, my-"

"I've stabbed you before and I'll do it again if you play another draw four, _Lawrence_." She interrupted, completely deadpan. His grin only widened before he slapped the card down on the table.

"Uno reverse."

The teenager let out a wordless shout and launched herself at him, knocking the both of them over and sending their cards flying. She somehow managed to get him in a headlock during their brief wrestling session, giving him a vicious noogie in the process despite his wriggling attempts at escape.

Barbara, who had been sitting on the demon's other side, ignored the fracas as she studied her own hand--down to three cards, putting her in the lead for right now. She hummed quietly, tapping a finger against one of her cards before pulling it from her hand to play.

“Draw four, Adam.” The statement was accompanied by a gentle kiss to his cheek and a small grin.

“Barbara,” he groaned, but he was still smiling as he pulled another four cards from the draw pile. He had easily over a dozen cards in his hand, but he managed to avoid adding any more this turn, playing a Skip card. 

Delia gasped dramatically, leaning back against the couch with a hand on her forehead like a Victorian maiden. “I can’t believe you’ve done this to me, Mr Maitland.” She sobbed dramatically, but after a moment she giggled, patting Charles on the arm. “Your turn, honey.”

He nodded, staring at the handful of cards he held, glancing between them and the play pile a few times before sighing and picking one to play.

“Lydia, Punkin? Draw two.”

“Nooooooooo!” She wailed, flopping to the ground from where she and Beetlejuice had still been wrestling. He took the opportunity to go on the offensive, scrubbing his hand through her hair and causing it to fluff out wildly. “How could you do this to me, Dad? I’m your only daughter!”

He chuckled, picking up two cards off the draw pile and laying them on her forehead. “There’s no such thing as family when it comes to Uno.”

The girl grumbled, picking the cards up and squinting at them before grasping for the rest of her hand. An excited look lit up her face before she grinned, squinting at the green-haired demon now leaning against the couch.

“Hey, Beej, guess what?”

“Uh, what?”

_“Draw four.”_

* * *

The game reached its dramatic conclusion about an hour later, Barbara having managed to beat out the rest of the family. Charles and Delia had to be up early for a showing the next day, so they had gone to get ready for bed while Adam, Barbara, and Lydia put away the game and took care of the dishes left from dinner. Beetlejuice was ostensibly helping, but in actuality he just pestered Lydia while she tidied up.

Barbara leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, watching the two with a soft smile on her face. Beetlejuice had stolen Lydia’s camera from around her neck and was floating away with it, grinning wildly as she jumped to try and catch him. 

“Beetlejuice, give it back!” She yelped, climbing onto the couch to hopefully give her enough reach to grab her camera from the grinning specter.

"Nuh-huh, gotta say the magic words!" He replied gleefully, dangling the camera over her head by the neck strap as he drifted out of reach. "C'mon, Lyds, we both know ya know em."

"Fine, can I _please_ have my camera back?" The girl huffed, folding her arms and blowing hair out of her face to glare up at him in irritation.

Beetlejuice hummed, tapping a finger against his chin in thought for a moment before shrugging. “Eh, good enough.” He let go of the camera strap, allowing it to float down gently into her hands. She carefully checked it to be sure it was undamaged before slipping it back over her neck.

Barbara glanced back as Adam came up behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder as he watched the two argue like siblings.

They didn’t notice the soft sound that accompanied someone teleporting behind them until hands clasped onto their shoulders, and then they were gone.

Lydia startled at the sharp _pop_ of air rushing into a previously-occupied space and froze, turning towards the door to the kitchen where the noise had come from.

A young girl stood there, maybe around seven years old and dressed in a pale yellow sundress. She had waist-length bright yellow hair and sharp blue eyes, and she was obviously not human--long, tapered ears and blue-tipped horns poked out from underneath her hair, a tail twitching and curling behind animal-like legs. 

“You can’t keep them from me anymore, human!” She snapped, curling her clawed fingers into fists and glaring at Lydia furiously. “They’re _mine,_ not yours!” 

Lydia heard Beetlejuice drop to the ground behind her, but she was completely focused on the demon girl in front of them. The girl snarled angrily one final time, before vanishing with a puff of lavender smoke and a sharp _pop_.

“Beetlejuice,”

“Lyds-”  
“What the hell was that.”

He took a deep, unnecessary breath, fidgeting with the cuffs of his jacket as she turned to look at him.

“Well, uh, _that_ seems to have been a demon.” He replied, rocking back on his heels for a moment. 

“A _what._ ”

“A _demon_ . Ya know, with the horns and claws and tail and shit.”

“Yeah no, I heard you the first time. I just- a _demon?_ I thought-”

“What, that I was the only one?”

Lydia shrugged, making an abortive gesture.

“Holy _shit_ you did!” He cackled, wrapping his arms around his middle and hunching over as he laughed. “Lydia, you can’t have a _species_ with only one member!”

“Hey, it’s not like you tell me anything about this stuff! How was I supposed to know you weren’t the only one?” She retorted, glaring at him and folding her arms over her chest.

“Uh, _common sense?_ You’re supposed to be the smart one, Lyds!”

“Whatever! We can- we can discuss my cognitive shortcomings later, right now we need to figure out where she took the Maitlands.”

He hummed, cocking his head to the side and scratching behind his ear before studying his chipped black nailpolish. “Probably Saturn.”

“I- wh- Saturn?”

“Yeah, that’s where most of the deadborns hang out.” He stated, as if it were a comment on the weather and not an absolutely _wild_ statement about the inhabitants of another planet in the solar system.

The sound of rapid footsteps on the stairs made them both turn to see Charles, with Delia only a few steps behind.

“Lydia?” He called, hurrying over to her. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Dad.” She assured him, but still acquiesced when he checked her face for any injuries.

“I’m fine too, _Dad_ , thanks for asking.” Beetlejuice muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels.

“What happened? We heard shouting.” Delia asked, glancing between the two worriedly.

“Someone--a-another demon, actually--kidnapped the Maitlands.” Lydia answered, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. “We- we’ve gotta go find them, Dad.”

“Absolutely not.”

“ _Dad-!_ ”

“No! I almost lost you once, I’m not going to go through that again.” Charles insisted, holding his daughter by the shoulders. 

“But Dad, we can’t just leave them! Adam and Barbara are family too!” Lydia cried, pulling away from her father. “Someone’s gotta go help them!”

“It doesn’t have to be you!” 

“Actually…” Beetlejuice cut in, tugging on the cuffs of his jacket anxiously. “It probably does.”

“ _What?”_ All of them turned to look at him, blinking in surprise.

“Well, she’s the one who summoned me originally, and the whole, uh, _thing_ means that I’m bound to her. I’m not even sure if I could take anyone else with me.” He rocked back and forth on his feet, not looking at them as he spoke. “But even before all that, you could see dead folks. Seers aren’t very common, and some of them have abilities even beyond just seeing the dead.”

Lydia stared at him, brow furrowed in thought as she digested what he’d said. “So, you’re saying I might have magic powers?”

“It’s definitely a possibility, yeah.”

At that she turned back to her father, a pleading look on her face.

“Dad, I’ve gotta go help them. You heard him, nobody else can go, and if I can do something to help then I _have_ to! You and Mom always told me that I should help whenever I could, and I can do something now.”

Charles sighed heavily, rubbing a hand down his face. “We did, didn’t we?” After a few moments of thought he sighed again. “Be careful. If anything happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“I will, I promise! Love you Dad!” With that she raced up the stairs to her room, changing from her pajamas into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. After a little thought she threw on a jacket over top of it, just to be safe, then grabbed a backpack and hurried back down to the kitchen, filling it with water bottles and granola bars. Racing back upstairs, she dropped the bag in her desk chair and grabbed her boots.

She tied her boots tight, double-knotting the laces so they wouldn’t come undone before grabbing the backpack again. Pausing at the door to her room, she backtracked for a moment, grabbing her baseball bat out of her closet and nodding to herself before hurrying back down the stairs.

Beetlejuice was still standing where she’d left him--fidgeting with the cuffs of his jacket and trying not to make eye contact with her dad. Her re-entry attracted everyone’s attention, and for a moment there was silence.

Delia was the first to break it, stepping forwards and taking Lydia’s hands in her own. She smiled shakily, pressing a stone into her hand.

“Malachite--protection for travelers.” The woman explained. “So you get home safe. Both of you.”

Charles wrapped his arms tightly around her, pressing his cheek against the top of her head.

“Be safe, punkin.”

She nodded silently, blinking away a sudden welling of tears. It wasn’t like she was leaving forever, and this wouldn’t be the most dangerous thing she’d done either. When he finally released her, he turned his gaze to Beetlejuice.

The green-haired demon ducked his head awkwardly, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. He flinched when Charles held out his hand, but after a brief second took it, his hair yellowed at the tips.

A startled wheeze escaped him when he was also pulled into a hug.

“That’s my daughter, Beetlejuice. Make sure she gets home safe.”

“I-I will Mr Deetz sir.”

Lydia stifled a grin at his panicked expression, hands floating in the air like he wasn’t sure how to react, but his distress didn’t last long.

“Uh, heh!” He cleared his throat, tugging on his lapels to straighten them. “We’ll be back in three days, at the longest. Demon’s honor.” An awkward bow-salute combination accompanied his words, which broke Lydia’s poker face.

“Alright, kid. Ready?” He extended his hand towards her, palm up. 

She nodded, slipping her hand into his.

“Well then, let’s go.” With a quick tug he pulled her closer, and within one second and the next the living room of her house vanished, replaced with a rolling expanse of yellow sand and yellower sky, interrupted by twisted purplish rock formations. She stumbled, sand skidding under her boots as she scrambled for footing. Beetlejuice kept her upright by her hand, still clasped tight in his own.

“You good, little monster?” He chuckled once she finally stabilized, rocking back and forth on his heels.

“I’m fine, just wasn’t expecting sand.” She replied, taking the chance to look around the landscape. Nothing but rolling dunes as far as she could see, nearly blending into the sky at the horizon. “Uh, where to now?”

The demon didn’t answer, instead sniffing the air before leaping and sliding down the dune (no doubt filling his sneakers with sand in the process, but he didn’t seem to notice).

Lydia followed as quickly as she dared, still trying to get a feel for the shifting sand underfoot. She probably looked like a newborn foal, stumbling with her arms outstretched for balance, but she managed to make it almost all the way down before tripping and falling over.

Blinking at the yellow sky in confusion, she spat out sand that had gotten in her mouth during her tumble. After a few seconds her view of the clouds was interrupted by a grinning face and she squinted at him, grabbing a handful of sand and throwing it halfheartedly in his direction.

“Peh! What was that for?” He yelped, stumbling back while trying to brush the sand off his suit. “Now I’ve got sand in my pants, thanks.”

“Oh, boo hoo. I’ve got sand in my hair already.” She snarked back, grinning cheekily before squawking in distress as he kicked a cloud of sand at her. “Hey!”

“Turnabout is fair play, Scarecrow!” He cackled, grinning widely as he watched her climb to her feet.

“Yeah, then you can’t blame me when I do _this!_ ” Lydia launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his middle and overbalancing him so he landed on his back in the sand with a winded grunt.

She sat up, perched on his stomach and giggling when he glared at her in irritation.

“Alright, ya little weirdo, you asked for it.” He growled playfully, scooping up a handful of sand and dumping it on her head. When she recoiled he took the opportunity, grabbing her by the shoulder and flipping them both over.

Lydia shrieked in surprise as she found herself once again lying face-up in the gritty yellow sand, wheezing out a laugh as he flopped on top of her.

“S-sto-ho-op it, you’re sq-qui-hi-hi-shing me!!” She squealed, trying to squirm out from underneath him. He relented after a few seconds, rolling over to lay next to her in the sand.

After a few moments of companionable silence, Lydia spoke up.  
“How are we gonna find them? There’s a whole planet to search, there’s no way we’ll be able to get them back in three days.”

Beetlejuice sat up, ruffling her hair affectionately. “I can track ‘em. We’ll find the Maitlands and get you back in time, don’t even worry about it.”

“Still, we should probably get going.” She stood up, brushing as much sand off her clothes as possible. “Lead the way, mighty tracker.”

“Alright, hang on a sec.” He sat up, tugging off his shoes and dumping sand out of them before putting them back on and climbing to his feet. “This way.”

And with that, they headed off into the desert.


	2. Chapter 2

They’d been walking for several hours, mostly just chatting idly between themselves when Lydia finally spoke up.

“You said that girl was a demon.”   
“Yep, she was.”

“Why didn’t she look like you? She had horns and a tail and stuff, but you don’t.”

He was quiet for a few moments, nothing but the sound of sand underfoot filling the space between them. His hair darkened slightly--she’d noticed that happened when he didn’t want to talk about something.

“I can shapeshift.” He answered finally, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Lydia dropped the topic after that, once again falling into comfortable chit-chat as they continued walking.

The sun had started to set as they walked, and Lydia was getting tired before Beetlejuice suddenly spoke up.

“Hang on.” He held out a hand in front of her, stopping her forward motion before making his way a few yards ahead. Lydia watched in confusion as he studied the sand around him, crouching to run his hand through it before standing back up. “Alright, you’re gonna wanna stand back, kid.” He called over his shoulder.

“Okay.” She replied, kicking at the sand underfoot as she waited.

She didn’t have long to wait, as within a few seconds he suddenly exploded into a green fireball. Lydia yelped in surprise, stumbling backwards a few feet before falling onto her rear. 

After a few seconds the flames cleared to show Beetlejuice standing on a circle of glass. He grinned at her, hands shoved into his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

“You’re gonna wanna hang on a second for this to cool, but I figured sand in your face when you’re tryin’ ta sleep wouldn’t be super comfortable.” 

Lydia climbed back to her feet, giving the glass surface plenty of space for now--the very edges were still glowing slightly, and she could see it steaming even in the hot desert air. Though the glass wasn’t the only thing  _ burning _ .

“Hey Beej,” she called, trying not to laugh. “You got a little something in your hair.”

He yelped dramatically, quickly patting out the embers burning on the tips of the wild mess of hair. No damage, of course, but he would probably be smelling a little  _ smoky _ for the next little bit.

“If you tell anyone about this, I’ll put snakes in your bed.” He threatened, shaking a finger in her direction but couldn’t hold back a mischievous grin.

“Bold of you to assume I don’t want snakes in my bed. I’d love a pet snake, but Dad always said no.” The teen responded, kicking sand up as she waited for the glass to cool.

“I think it’s good for you to walk on now, scarecrow.” Beetlejuice said, already lying spread-eagled on the smooth surface, looking up at the darkening sky.

“Kay.” Lydia carefully crouched down to touch the glass with a finger. It was still warm, but wasn’t hot enough to burn her. Brushing her hands off on her jeans, she walked towards the demon and sat down next to him. “This is pretty cool.”   
“Actually, it’s  _ hot. _ Ya gotta melt sand to make glass, not freeze it.” He responded, elbowing her in the side with a cheeky grin.

Lydia promptly shrugged off her backpack and attempted to smother him with it.

He squawked dramatically, making a show of struggling against her before going still with an over-exaggerated choking sound.

She pulled her backpack away, snickering at his stupid expression as she did so. His tongue was sticking out the side of his mouth, eyes rolled back in his skull in a mockery of death. After a few seconds she poked him in the side with her boot, trying to get a response.

“Leave me alone, I’m dead.” He responded, somehow without changing his face in the slightest.

“You’ve been dead the whole time I’ve known you, dumbass.”   
“Yeah, but I’m double-dead now. Brutally murdered by my best friend and left to rot in a sandy wasteland.”

“Maybe I’ll feed you to a sandworm then.” She mused, lying back with her arms folded behind her head.

“You could, but how would you get back?”

“Maybe I won’t. I’ll just live here, like a cool desert outlaw. Wild West but in space.” She hummed, looking up at the sky as stars started to peek through the clouds. “It’s been one day already, we’ve only got two more to find them.”   
Beetlejuice huffed, sitting up and leaning back on his arms. He looked up at the sky for a minute before glancing at one of the multiple watches around his wrist. “Nah, we’ve still got a few days. Time moves faster here, we’ve got about six days left.”

“Oh.” Some of the constellations looked familiar, but slightly off. Others were completely new to her, and the multiple moons in the sky lent an air of mystery to the view.

“Hey, kid, check this out.” Beetlejuice tugged at her shoulder, pulling her to sit up next to him. He pointed towards the horizon, where a strange golden band stretched across the sky. “You can see the rings real good from here.”

“Woah, cool.” She gasped, scrambling to pull her phone from her pocket to take a picture. “That’s awesome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to update this every week until it's done. Comments keep me from being abandoned in an extraplanetary desert wilderness!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a vague reference to slight body dysphoria in this chapter. Nothing explicit and hopefully nothing triggering, just about Beetlejuice having a bit of a problem with how he looks.

It was about an hour later when Beetlejuice brought up their topic from earlier. Lydia had eaten a few of her snack bars and drank some water--not the most satisfying dinner, but better than nothing--and was ready to go to sleep when he spoke up.

“If… if you really wanna see, I guess I could show you.” He mumbled, very definitely  _ not _ looking in her direction. 

She looked over towards him, humming in contemplation. "I'd like to, but only if you're okay with it."

"Yeah, sure, it's- it's fine." One hand was waved in her general direction, but she could tell his hair was tinted yellow at the tips. "Hang on a sec."

He pulled his shoes off without bothering to untie them, shoving them in his jacket pockets—an interesting image, but she didn't comment on it. And then he  _ changed. _

Lydia wasn't entirely sure how to describe it, almost like watching a picture develop in high speed but not quite.

"Heh, ta-daa." He added a halfhearted jazz hands motion to it, grinning awkwardly at her.

The tips of his fingers and toes were black, curving into sharp talons at the ends. His ears had lengthened and twitched towards every sound—it made him look kind of like a cat, she thought. A long tail tipped with a flare of yellowy-green hair flicked behind him, and a pair of black horns poked out of his wild mane. The biggest change, though, was his skin.

He usually looked pale, but still managed to appear mostly like a living person. Now, though, his skin had a greyish-green undertone, making him look like the corpse she supposed he was.

"Huh." The girl said, taking in his appearance.

"Is, uh, is that a good  _ huh _ or a bad  _ huh _ ?" He asked, picking at a few loose strings on his sleeves.

"A good huh. You look pretty badass, I like it."

"Alright then, little monster." He ruffled her hair with a grin, revealing sharper teeth than she was used to. "Bedtime for explorers, we've got an early morning tomorrow."

* * *

Lydia yawned, rubbing one eye with a balled up fist as she looked over towards where Beetlejuice had been the night before. He was sitting quietly, chin resting in one hand and his sneakers still stuffed into the pockets of his jacket--to keep from tearing them up when he went to sleep, he’d explained at some point last night. She watched him silently for a little bit, his tail twitching slightly in the early morning quiet.

“Why don’t you stay like this?” Lydia asked, surprising the both of them--she hadn’t intended to break the silent moment, but now the question was out. “At least, while we’re here. So you don’t have to keep emptying your shoes out.”

_ And, _ she thought to herself, _ so you don’t have to keep changing every day. _ It couldn’t be comfortable, despite how easy he made it seem. She thought it might be like wearing too-small clothes all the time, constantly squeezed into a shape that you weren’t meant to be.

He hummed quietly under his breath, leaning back on his hands to look up at the sky. 

“I guess I could. Not really used to people seeing me like this--breathers tend to freak out if I come right out with the claws and horns, so I don’t.” He replied, sounding rather introspective. “But when in Rome, I suppose.”

“Or Saturn.”

He chuckled, looking back over his shoulder towards her. “Or Saturn.”

After Lydia’s quick breakfast of a granola bar and some water, they started walking again. Beetlejuice was having a much easier time with the terrain than Lydia, practically bounding across the sand like an overexcited puppy.

After an hour or so of trudging through the sand, Beetlejuice stopped suddenly with a thoughtful look on his face. He grinned suddenly before crouching down in front of Lydia and gesturing to his shoulders.

“Hey, climb on. It’ll be faster.” He prompted, almost vibrating with excitement. Lydia hesitated for a moment, but climbed onto his shoulders after he urged her again.

“Kay, ready?” He asked, wrapping his hands around her ankles before standing up.

Lydia giggled, one hand holding her baseball bat and the other curled into his hair for balance. He stood still for a bit, letting her adjust before moving.

After a few seconds, Lydia raised her bat, pointing it forwards like a sword. “Onwards!”

Beetlejuice promptly took off running, the both of them shouting with laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments help me achieve my final form!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no warnings for this chapter, but i've been excited to get to this point since I started posting!

Lunch was another few granola bars and a rest, sat under one of the twisted stone structures for shade. Or at least, Lydia sat under the arch--Beetlejuice seemed focused on hunting something scurrying through the sand. She couldn’t tell what it was, but it was small and fast--if she had to guess, either a lizard or some kind of bug. 

“You said other demons live here, right? Where is everyone?” She asked, watching as the creature managed to skitter away and burrow into the sand.

“No, dummy, nobody _lives_ here.” He shot her a shiteating grin, seemingly unconcerned by his quarry’s escape. “We’re all dead, duh.”

Lydia threw a rock at him, hitting him in the shoulder. “You know what I meant. But seriously, where are all the other demons?”  
“Iunno. Here and there, mostly. Folks tend to set up in their own territory, and don’t go wandering around in other folks’ spots. We’re pretty close to someone right now, actually.” He studied his talons as he talked, picking at his thumb absently.

“Oh, neat! D’ya think we could meet em?” The girl asked excitedly. Beetlejuice shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess. Let’s get going again, we’ve still got plenty of good travel time left.”

“Alright, help me up.”

They walked for a while after that, the sun starting to set before Beetlejuice started to get excited.

His face broke into a wide grin as they crested the dune, pausing for a moment at the top before sprinting down the other side. He was heading towards a stone building in the distance, made of the same purple and yellow stone as the rest of the landscape but distinguishable by its flat roof and geometric shape. Lydia shouted for him to wait, struggling to keep up. Her boots weren't anywhere near as suited for the desert as his wide, clawed paws, but she was managing all right.

He was practically bouncing as they made their way to the door, tail lashing excitedly behind him and his hair an almost eye-searing neon green.

"What's so special about this place?" Lydia finally asked, panting slightly from exertion. It was the first building she'd seen on Saturn, of course—or at least the first thing she was certain was a building—but from the way he'd talked about the other demons they all seemed hostile towards visitors.

"Just hang on, kid, you'll see." He responded, rapping his knuckles against the door sharply.

"Hang on, I'm a'comin'!" A voice responded from inside before the door opened a crack, allowing the inhabitant to peek out. "Yeah?" They asked, peering at Lydia with one visible maroon eye. Beetlejuice stepped closer to her, putting himself into view and waving with a grin.

The door was flung open almost immediately, revealing a rather short demon woman inside. She had horns that curled around her head like a ram and thick, curly indigo hair like a cloud. She wasn't much taller than Lydia, but her billowy shirt and skirt gave her a larger presence.

"Lawrence! I haven't seen you in decades, how you been sugah?" The demoness asked, throwing her arms around him in a hug, which he eagerly returned. "How's Maria? You know I worry about you two, all alone down there with that woman. You takin' care a'yourself, honey?"

"I'm doin’ good, Mama, and last I talked to Maria she was fine." He answered, practically bouncing on his paws from excitement.

_Mama?_

Lydia stared at him in confusion, certain she must’ve misheard. Juno was his mother, right?

“That’s good to hear, honey. Now, who is this lovely lil lady you’re travelin’ with, huh?” The woman asked, turning to face Lydia with a smile.

“Oh, this is Lydia!”

“I’m Lydia.” 

They both answered at the same time, cracking wide grins afterwards.

“Well, Miss Lydia, it is wonderful to meet you. I’m Lyra, but most folks around here call me Mama.” The demoness-- _Lyra_ \--said, extending a hand with a warm smile. Lydia took it, surprised at how warm her hand was. Beetlejuice’s hands were always cold, which he never hesitated to use against her. Especially when she fell asleep during their late night movie marathons.

_That explains why he called her Mama, though._

“Now, come in, the both of yah, no use standin’ around out here! I got pies in the oven too.” The woman turned, waving them both inside with one hand. 

The inside of the building was surprisingly cozy, filled with strange plants and overstuffed chairs. Mama waved them through into the kitchen, gesturing to a couple of stools at the table. “Just sit yahself down, the two of you.” She said, heading over to the oven and pulling out a pair of pies.

“So, what brings the both a yah around here?”

Lydia glanced at Beetlejuice, unsure of what exactly she should say about their mission.  
“We’re lookin’ for some friends of ours, actually. Last we saw them was with a little girl--long hair, wore a yellow dress and had blue markings. You know her?” He asked, leaning against the counter.

“Sounds like Bellatrix. Showed up ‘bout two decades back, all on her own. Poor lil thing.” Mama replied, busying herself looking through the cabinets for dishware. “Last I heard she set up near the Ridgeback Spires.”

“Isn’t that Rigel’s territory? Surprised he let anyone get in on that, other than his gang.” Beej responded, leaning over to sniff at the pies. Mama smacked him in the back of the head with a flyswatter, shooing him away towards the stools.

“He seems to have let her have a pass, I suppose.”

Lydia was just content to listen, not really understanding the names and locations thrown around by the two demons. It was actually pretty nice to be able to talk to someone other than Beej, and to be in an actual house.

“Sit down, Lawrence. You’re makin’ me anxious with all your bouncin’ around.” Mama scolded, pushing him towards the stools again. He finally listened, sitting down next to Lydia and resting his elbows on the table. “Now, y’all are lucky you showed up at dinnertime. Eat up, then we can figure out sleepin’ arrangements.” She placed a pair of stone bowls in front of them, full of a darkly-colored stew that smelled delicious. Lydia didn’t hesitate to dig in--meals made of nothing but water and granola bars had made her willing to eat just about anything, even Delia’s weird vegan dinners.

The stew tasted even better than it smelled, a rich hearty flavor that warmed her up from the inside. Beetlejuice ate like a starving man--she wasn’t even sure he used the spoon, despite Mama’s scolding.

“Now, you two best be plannin’ to stay the night, cause I’m not gonna let you two back out in the cold.” The demoness said once everyone had finished eating. “Miss Lydia, I got a spare room you can use. Lawrence, you’ll just have to make do with the couch. We’ll get you both set up after dessert.”

She stood back up, cutting each of them a slice of pie. Once again, Beej vacuumed his up in what seemed like seconds, then started trying to steal bites from Lydia’s plate. She swatted him away without blinking each time, far too used to his antics for it to bother her.

“Lawrence, leave the girl alone and come help me get some blankets out of the closet.”

“Sure thing, Mama!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments give Beej a good found family.
> 
> you can find me on Tumblr at [salvaation](salvaation.tumblr.com)  
> Fanart!!  
> [Demon Beej](https://blank-ace.tumblr.com/post/620038693781192704/my-hyperfixation-is-still-going-strong-ive-lost)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no warnings this chapter, just more Mama content!

Mama returned to the kitchen after showing Beetlejuice where the closet was, gathering up the used plates and running a sink of dishwater to start cleaning.

“So, how did you end up travelin’ with Lawrence?” She asked, glancing back towards the girl.

“Oh, that’s kind of a long story. He was kinda… haunting my house, I guess? We hung out for a while, and ended up becoming friends. He’s kinda like a big brother to me now.” Lydia responded, picking at the slice of pie on her plate.

“Well, I suppose that’s one way to go about it.” The demoness chuckled, leaning back against the counter. “He’s certainly an interesting choice for a friend.”

“We’re both strange and unusual.” The girl answered, waving her hand in the air with a smile. A strange expression went across Mama’s face. She walked closer, taking the teen’s hand in her own.

Mama went quiet, staring at the ring on Lydia’s hand. After a few seconds she dropped it, pacing quietly over to the door to the living room.

“Lawrence?”   
“Yeah, Mama?” 

“Would you mind explainin’ why this lil girl in here is wearin’ a ring in your colors?”

Lydia could almost see the panicked look on his face, propping her chin up in her hand as she watched the demoness. Might as well enjoy the show.

“Ah, well you see-”

“You best not be lookin’ to say what I think you’re gonna say, Lawrence.” Mama interrupted him, one hand on her hip and the other sliding into her apron pocket. “As in, you best not have tried your fool shenanigans on this lil girl.”

He snapped his mouth shut.

Lydia hid her grin when Mama glanced back at her, focusing on the slice of pie in front of her. It was good, though she wasn’t entirely sure what it was filled with--something cinnamony, but with a sweet aftertaste. Maybe it was something that only grew on Saturn, that would make sense.

“I may have made a few… rash decisions in the past involving a certain loophole for demons.” Beetlejuice responded, clearly trying to word things in a way that wouldn’t get Mama more upset than she already was. “And there may have been extenuating circumstances involved in those decisions-”   
“He held my family hostage and forced me to marry him so he wouldn’t kill them.” Lydia interrupted. “But it’s cool, I killed him after that and we’re friends now.”

Mama sighed heavily, looking between the two of them with an exasperated expression.

“Well, I always said yah fool shenanigans would get you into trouble one day, I suppose.”

“Hey! Rude!” He cried.

Lydia giggled, taking another bite of pie. And then another, finishing off her slice with a contented hum.

“Well, it’s late, and yall got more travelin’ ta do. You should get to bed, Miss Lydia.” Mama said, taking her plate and dropping it into the sink. “Here, I’ll show ya to the spare room.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments add ingredients to my space pie!
> 
> sorry the chapter is kinda short, I've had HLVRAI brain worms recently. Next chapter should be back to the regular length though, I've got more prewritten for it.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments keep me from being eaten by sandworms!


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